Trench
WordNet
noun
(1) A ditch dug as a fortification having a parapet of the excavated earth
(2) Any long ditch cut in the ground
(3) A long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor
verb
(4) Dig a trench or trenches
"The National Guardsmen were sent out to trench"
(5) Cut a trench in, as for drainage
"Ditch the land to drain it"
"Trench the fields"
(6) Set, plant, or bury in a trench
"Trench the fallen soldiers"
"Trench the vegetables"
(7) Cut or carve deeply into
"Letters trenched into the stone"
(8) Fortify by surrounding with trenches
"He trenched his military camp"
WiktionaryText
Noun
- A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground, especially in warfare.
- A pit, usually rectangular with smooth walls and floor, excavated during an archaeological investigation.
- A trench coat.
- 1999, April 24, Xiphias Gladius
- I was the first person in my high school to wear a trench and fedora constantly, and Ben was one of the first to wear a black trench.
- 2007, Nina Garcia, The Little Black Book of Style, HarperCollins, as excerpted in Elle, October, page 138:
- A classic trench can work in any kind of weather and goes well with almost anything.
- 1999, April 24, Xiphias Gladius
Verb
- To invade, especially with regard to the rights or the exclusive authority of another.
- 1640, Ben Jonson, Underwoods, page 68:
- Shee is the Judge, Thou Executioner, Or if thou needs would'st trench upon her power, Thou mightst have yet enjoy'd thy crueltie, With some more thrift, and more varietie.
- 1949, Charles Austin Beard, American Government and Politics, page 16:
- He could make what laws he pleased, as long as those laws did not trench upon property rights.
- 2005, Carl von Clausewitz, J. J. Graham, On War, page 261:
- [O]ur ideas, therefore, must trench upon the province of tactics.
- 1640, Ben Jonson, Underwoods, page 68:
- To excavate an elongated pit for protection of soldiers and or equipment, usually perpendicular to the line of sight toward the enemy.
- To excavate an elongated and often narrow pit.
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